To swim in love
by Hobbitpal
Summary: Pools can be a good place to think ... and fall in love


Eric Delko loved the feel of water against his skin, the coolness of it as he gracefully passed through it.

When he'd been la small boy, his mother had taken him swimming every Wednesday after school and Saturday morning, while his sisters did ballet. He had joined team after tea, winning more and more medals and trophies. All through his teens and College he had carried on swimming. At one point there had even been talk of him going to the Olympics. But he had decided on Forensics, and if he had become a professional swimmer, he would never have met _her_.

The pool was empty of people, it always was on a Saturday morning, and just how he liked it. He dived in, slipping effortlessly through the chlorinated water. Breaking the surface, he went into a front crawl, his arms cutting through the blue liquid like sharp knives. Swimming helped him to think, to relax and forget about the stress of his job.

On his last few visits to the pool, he had thought a lot about her, how she had been shut off from them all recently. He didn't understand why she wasn't talking to him. They had always been close, but for some reason, part of their connection seemed to have been lost.

Lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling, the water's reflection rippling above him, he wondered if something had happened to her father. He knew that the man was a heavy alcoholic, but he had thought that recently, the guy had been getting better. But judging by her silence, that didn't appear to be the case. He wanted her smile again, laugh, but he didn't know how. He cared for her so much that it hurt. He loved her, he couldn't and wouldn't deny it, he loved her with all his heart, and yet he couldn't tell her.

In his head, he had told her on numerous occations, in various scenarios, but they were only in his head. Never had the words 'I love you' past from his lips, they stayed just behind his teeth, on the tip of his tongue, but far enough back so that he wouldn't accidentally let them slip.

A soft splash of water caused him to look up. No one came to the pool first thing in the morning on a Saturday, and if they did, he was normally long gone.

A lone figure stood at the other end of the Olympic sized swimming pool, obviously allowing their body to adjust to the lukewarm temperature of the water.

He just ignored them, carrying on swimming and thinking about his 'special lady friend' as his niece and nephew described her when ever he talked about her to them. He'd tried to get her to go swimming, but she had all ways turned him down, making up some work excuse, but her face betraying the hurt she had inside when his face fell. It hurt him as well, that she always blew him off but looked like she wanted to say yes. All he wanted to do was look after her, but she wasn't letting him in.

He did another lap, passing the other swimmer in a splash of speed and water, causing them to shout at him. He turned around in the water, swimming backwards, prepared to shout back an apology, but he stopped when he saw the long blonde hair the swimmer had, her small but dominating figure as she made her way towards him. She was a pretty fast swimmer, cutting through the water with a sense of ease.

They floated there, doggy paddling, staring at each other, speechless, mouths open in shock.

Calleigh Duquesne was rarely left speechless, but when she was faced with a wet, half naked Delko, her throat just contracted and no sound could pass from her lips. She had loved him for years, but every man she dated seemed to run away from her or something went wrong, or they shot themselves. She didn't want to do that to Eric, he was her closest friend. She knew that she needed to tell him how she felt; it was practically eating her up inside. Whenever she looked in to his deep brown eyes she went weak at the knees.

Eric Delko was regularly left speechless by her, her dry sense of humour and wit catching him off guard as he watched her about the lab and at crime scenes. He liked watching her as she worked, her determination clearly coming through in all she did. But seeing her suspended in water, dressed in a thin swimming suit was a little more than he could take, as she was breathtakingly beautiful; the only way to describe her.

"I didn't know you swam here." He said at last, breaking the silence that had formed between them. She shrugged slightly, trying to focus on his face, his eyes and not his bare chest, that looked so inviting under the water, so smooth and soft.

She came whenever she could, trying to improve her swimming skills, hoping that she would one day run into him and maybe race against him. She knew that he swam here every Saturday; he had tried to get her to join him on numerous occations.

"I come here sometimes." She said at last, smiling slightly at him as a grin spread across his face. He couldn't help but grin at her; that was the effect she had on him.

"You're not that bad." He said shyly as they rested against the wall of the pool. Her soft laugh sounded so sweet in his ear, like honey. It was a gorgeous sound.

He had moved closer to her, looking as though he was going to put his arm around her waist, helping her to stay afloat. She moved closer to him as well, looking up at him, her smile still playing at the corners of her lips.

"Thank you. You are not bad yourself." He laughed this time, knowing that she was pulling his leg, teasing him, playing with him. He knew that she knew that he was a good swimmer. After all, how many scenes had she been at when he'd had to dive?

He looked down into her deep green eyes.

"I try my best." His voice was barely above a whisper, but it sounded so much louder in her ears as she watched his lips wondering if he was to kiss her or not. He'd moved lower in the water, so that his head was more at her level, their eyes lining up with each other.

How badly he wanted to kiss her, right there and then in the water. All of a sudden he was over come but he built up emotions and captured her lips with his, bringing his free hand to gently stroke her cheek, pulling her closer. Her other hand was wrapping itself around his neck, deepening the kiss and returning it as well.

All sound and time had stopped around them; the noise from the water filters fading into nothing around them and it was like they were suspended in time, only aware of each other.

Once the kiss was broken noise rushed back to them and they were left staring into each other's eyes, smiling at each other, foreheads touching.

With out warning the shot off towards the far end of the pool, racing, laughing, smiling; happier than either had been in a while.

Delko had always loved swimming, but swimming with the woman he loved, was seer bliss.

Calleigh had always found swimming fun, but to be swimming with Delko, well, that was an adventure in it's self and she was more than looking forward to it…


End file.
